Eastern Christianity – A Reading List

An acquaintance recently asked me for a list of five or six books that could serve as solid introductions to Eastern Christianity. Naturally, I sent him 25. In so doing, I told him that I had intentionally avoided suggesting any work that was needlessly polemical, theologically heavy, or spiritually dense. Because he is a Roman Catholic, I noted that some of the works listed might rub him the wrong way while also mentioning that it’s important to keep in mind that not every Eastern criticism of what we broadly call “Latin theology” and “Roman ecclesiology” is entirely off base or fueled by a lack of charity. Moreover, given that there are few “perfect books” written about much of anything, I stressed that I did not agree with every point in the books suggested, but felt it best for him to separate the wheat from the chaff himself.

The following list is ordered roughly in the manner I personally would proceed if I were to “start over” on my Eastern Christian reading. There is a heavy emphasis on history here which is entirely on purpose.

I thought about Ware, but my difficulty with recommending him is that he’s almost single handedly responsible for giving the cloak of legitimacy to the Orthodox shift on contraception — one which may not have taken deep hold in the West but for his revisionist approach to the topic over the course of three editions. There’s an anniversary edition coming out. I am curious what he will say on the matter this time.

Excellent list. The ones that I have read (about half) are excellent; if the rest of them are half so good, I look forward to reading them.

I am a little bit surprised to see nothing from Vladimir Lossky. He is, of course, more theological than historical; but the essays in his In the Image and Likeness of God are an excellent presentation of many aspects of Eastern Christian theology.

I find Lossky problematic, which is why I usually avoid recommending him. However, I suppose there is a case to be made that his influence over the direction of Eastern theology during the last century probably places him on a “Must Read” list. At the same time, though, I think it’s more important for someone to get a “feel” for the whole terrain while being introduced into some of the personalities that have shaped Eastern Christianity in recent times.

I tend to like diving straight into the old stuff. The volume ‘Christology of the Later Fathers’ IMO is a great place to start reading the Eastern fathers. It contains St. Athanasius’ ‘On the Incarnation’, several of St. Gregory Nazianzen’s theological orations, and dogmatic works by St. Gregory of Nyssa, including his wonderful great catechism. It also has key historical documents from the council of Nicaea to the second council of Constantinople.

I thought about that, but I was intentionally trying to devise a list that would let someone get a bird’s eye view of things with a few incursions into some of the bigger questions and problems surrounding the Christian East (particularly as it relates to the West). Reading the Church Fathers is always profitable, of course.